Solving Problems through Foundation Training

Before you even start looking at horses, take the time to really think about what you want. What do you really want to do with this horse? Are you looking for a horse to keep for life, or one to build your confidence and skills on over a period of time, and then move on to a more “advanced” horse? Do you have any special dreams of showing or learning a specific discipline? Will you want to do more training with this horse? Does the horse need to be kid friendly, gentle, very forward, will conformation matter? Spend the time up front clearly defining your goals for this horse.

Second, do the math. How much do you have to spend, and keep in mind the actual price of the horse will be peanuts compared to other costs over time. Training and health issues will be the largest factors to raise costs. So when evaluating a horse it is critical that you are able to judge if this horse will need additional training or healthcare. Create a budget for yourself that is realistic for yourself and family.

Third, resist the urge to feel rushed. Once we are ready to buy – we want one NOW. But again, in most cases we are looking for a long-term, if not lifetime, equine partner. Unless you met and married your spouse right away – take a deep breathe and be prepared to be picky. This is similar to marriage, the difference is that the bad ones often end up with you in the hospital rather than divorce court. Buy only when you find the absolute right horse.

Fourth – take all the advice your friends give you with a grain of salt. Unless you have a trainer that you trust implicitly to work with, you are going to get different advice from everyone on what to look for. Mark Rashid has a great book called “A Good Horse is Never the Wrong Color.” And boy, that title just sums it all up. You may have a specific breed, color, size, and even age in mind, and yet your absolute perfect dream horse could be totally different. Instead focus on the three key aspects of the horse to determine suitability: Emotional, Mental and Physical.

The emotional aspect should be the most important area of focus for a novice rider. The temperament, personality, and instincts of the horse are all hinged on the emotional level of that horse. And that is the hardest area to change. I believe that most novice riders, unless extremely confident with low fear levels, should seek out horses with low to average emotional levels.

The mental aspect of the horse is also very important to judge. How willing is he to listen and focus on you? How quickly does he “get” lessons? Does he like to work? Is he alpha, submissive, or somewhere in the middle? Knowing his mental make-up can also help you determine if you are a good fit for each other. Remember that horses can’t change their personality. It is up to us to adjust our communication styles for them.

The physical aspect of the horse is the hardest thing for the novice to judge. It’s not only a question of health and soundness – but the horse’s conformation can also significantly affect its ability to excel in certain disciplines. Now you do not want to pay for a vet check for every horse you consider, so it’s helpful to be able to do a basic evaluation yourself. The biggest problem areas are usually the legs and hooves. The best thing to do is to find horse friends who have animals with splints, bowed tendons, founder, etc. Ask them to show you how to check out a horse for any warning signs. Also run your hands and fingers over the horse’s neck, withers, shoulders, back, hindquarters. See if you can detect any flinching or soreness. If you can’t find anything, then you can move on to further evaluate the horse.

Following is an evaluation checklist I recommend for horse buyers to follow:

Prior to the visit: Ask the seller not to do anything with the horse that day until you get there. Find out exactly how often the horse has been worked in the prior week and what that work entailed. Plan on bringing a 12 to 20 foot lead line, lunge whip or dressage stick, blue tarp, stick with a plastic bag on the end, electric clippers, and any other items you think may be good for de-spooking work

When you get there: First ask the seller to halter the horse and lead to where it can be tied. How does horse accept halter? How does it lead? Then ask to leave horse tied up for 5 minutes to see how quietly it stands. Now ask to have the seller pick up all four feet, rub the horse’s belly, pet the face and touch the ears. Watch how the horse reacts to all of these. As long as horse seems fairly accepting of the contact, ask if you can groom the horse. Do a full grooming session and look for any sensitive spots. Next pull out your electric clippers to see how the horse accepts the clippers around the muzzle and bridle patch.

Now it’s time for groundwork. Just in the halter, find an area you can do some leading yourself with the horse. Walk around the property a bit to test how heavy the horse is in hand. Does it walk ahead, behind? Is it spooking at anything? Does it seem attentive or very quiet? Does it stop when you stop? Will it back for you easily?

Then ask the seller if the horse works on a line. If yes – ask them to do some change of direction exercises for you at the walk, trot and canter. Pay attention to where the horse’s head, shoulders and hindquarters are. Is he staying light on the leadline, or pulling away? Is his head turned slightly inward to show focus on the handler, are his shoulders slightly bent in at an arc? Are his hindquarters out or coming into the handler? Is he moving forward with nice energy, or is he slow, or is he showing too much energy? Is he transitioning from walk/trot and cantering off verbal cues easily or does he need extra pressure (like a whip) to get him to transition? Is he staying with the gait as asked? Does he look “high” or more relaxed as the work continues? Look for lowered head, licking and chewing. Any bucking, kicking or bolting? Also take this time to watch for any signs of lameness. Look for any favoring of the hooves, or dipping of the shoulder. Lameness can often appear working in one direction on lead but not the other – so keep your eyes open at all times.

Next work the horse yourself on the line. Note any differences in the horse’s performance working for you versus the seller. Do you feel comfortable asking the horse to go forward, transition and stop? Is the horse paying attention to you? Is he reacting when you ask for something? If there is a round pen, take advantage of it. If the line work has been comfortable for you, take the horse into the round pen yourself and take the halter off. Ask it to move out with good energy. After a couple of laps, see if you can get the horse to do a change of direction. If the horse has not done a lot of round pen work – you will likely not get an inside turn – though you can try, but the important thing is that either way – you can get the horse to stop its feet and turn the other direction when you ask. Do frequent turn of direction exercises until you see the horse is really paying attention to you.. If you see clear progress – it’s a good indication he is at least willing. If there is not a round pen – just do more extensive line work. The emotional control “checks” I will discuss next can be done on line or in the ground pen.

Now get ready to test the emotional level of the horse. Begin with the blue tarp. Fold the tarp into a small square and approach the horse with it. Look for any aversion to the object, can you touch the horse with the tarp? Using pressure and release methods (which can be seen in my de-spooking video) take time to see if you can eventually put large sections of the tarp over the horse. Likewise, ask the horse to cross over the tarp while folded in a small square while doing change of direction work. If successful, slowly unfold the tarp into larger and larger pieces to see how well the horse will cross the tarp. You can do similar tests with the plastic bag on a stick. These are simply exercises which allow you to assess the horse’s natural fear level, and most importantly - your ability to bring the emotions down once they have been raised. What you are looking for is not to see that the horse does not react at all, but rather how he reacts. Is he merely attentive, does he step back a little bit, or does he bolt like crazy? How well does he accept the pressure of these items? How long does it take to get him to accept the pressure? How quickly (if at all) can you get him to be relatively relaxed in the face of this new scary stuff? Your goal is to know what he does in the face of something unfamiliar and scary as his natural reaction.

Now ask the seller to tack up the horse. Watch how the horse accepts the bridle and saddle, especially the cinch. Watch for signs the horse is ridden with extra aids, such as tie-downs. If you see lots of “extra” equipment – ask why and how the horse does without the equipment. Watch the seller do groundwork with the horse fully tacked up. Determine if the horse is not accepting the gear well or is more emotionally “high” under saddle and bridle.

Now ask the seller to ride the horse for you at the walk, trot and canter. Ask for change of direction work while paying VERY close attention to how much pressure the horse needs to start, turn and stop. How much leg is being used and how much contact on the reins? This is your chance to judge very carefully how responsive the horse is at its current state. This will tell you how much (if any) training you may need to invest in if you decide you want the horse. Also watch how the horse does transitions with a rider. Any signs of resistance or fear? Lots of green or emotional horses are fine at the walk and trot, but really can act out at the canter.

At this point you need to judge your own comfort level carefully. If you feel good about it, now is the time for you to ride the horse. If you don’t – ask yourself why? Chances are your intuition is telling you that this is not the right horse for you. This does not mean you need to canter the horse. But if the horse seems appropriate for you, you should feel comfortable doing walk/trot work. It’s important to feel for yourself how much contact the horse needs to respond from your leg, reins and seat. What does the overall emotional level of the horse seem to be? Is he relaxed and focused, or in some state otherwise?

Mounting comfort is also a very important thing to evaluate. Does he stand still for the mounting and does he stand for a mounting block? Are his ears pinned way back as you mount? Can you feel him hunching up as you mount?

Next, after you are done riding (weather permitting), ask the seller if you can rinse the horse off with a hose to get a feel for how he bathes and accepts water. And then the very last thing in an evaluation, if they have a trailer (or bring your own) try loading and unloading the horse several times to watch his reaction. This includes closing the gate. Lots of horses load well and then may freak out when enclosed.

At this point you are done with the initial evaluation and should do one of four things: o Walk away because the horse does not feel right. o Ask to put down a refundable deposit, pending a vet check and second evaluation because the horse seems fantastic and you don’t want to risk him being sold to someone else. o Ask to come back another day to work with the horse and ride again. You have some doubts but are not sure either way. o You love the horse but want a purchase trial agreement!

Now the best advice I can offer is to always try to get a purchase trial contract. A 7-14 day trial is a winning situation for everyone. The seller is protected by full payment up front and a clear contract with the buyer, and the buyer has the ability to spend time on their own territory taking the horse through its paces and really testing its disposition. Plus being able to use one’s own vet for the pre-purchase and eliminate any possible concerns of drugging.

What you risk as a buyer with a trial agreement is anything happening to the horse while in your care (you break it – you buy it), the cost of transporting the horse to your own facility (potentially both ways), the feed and care costs during that time, and then the costs of the vet check, which I usually do last. I make sure the horse has the emotional and mental make-up I want before paying for the pre-purchase exam. But as long as you are at a good facility, the horse trailers well, and you do not take undue risks during the trial – your exposure of ending up with a horse that is not suitable for you is quite low. And the benefits of getting to really try the horse out speak for themselves.

Whatever happens though, this is your chance to really do it right to ensure you end up with exactly the partner you are looking for. Don’t underestimate how important it is to find the right horse for yourself. As I said earlier, it will be up to you to adapt to the horse, so make sure it really is the relationship you were seeking. Take your time. Be thorough. Be selective. Be sure. And whenever possible…Try before you buy!

Next month we will discuss how to prepare weanlings and yearling for vet and farrier work. In the meanwhile, if you have any questions, please feel free to email at cwtraining@comcast.net or visit us on the web at www.cwtraining.com

May the Holiday Season and New Year bless you and your loved ones with joy, health and happiness!

Charles Wilhelm